MMing ing DDynasty ynasty

What’s the Connection?In Section 3, you read about the

Mongol conquest. Eventually, theChinese drove the Mongols out, anda new dynasty arose.

Focusing on the • Ming rulers strengthened China’s

government and brought back peaceand prosperity. (page 431)

• During the Ming dynasty, China senta fleet to explore Asia and East Africa.(page 433)

Locating PlacesNanjing (NAHN• JIHNG)Portugal (POHR•chih•guhl)

Meeting PeopleZhu Yuanzhang

(JOO YOO•AHN• JAHNG)Yong Le (YUNG LEE)Zheng He (JUNG HUH)

Building Your Vocabularytreason (TREE•zuhn)census (SEHN•suhs)novel (NAH•vuhl)barbarian (bahr•BEHR•ee•uhn)

Reading Strategy Cause and Effect Use a chart like the one below to show cause-and-effect links in China’s early tradevoyages.

1405Zheng He beginsfirst overseasvoyage

1514Portugueseships arrivein China

1644Ming dynasty falls

Macao

Beijing

Nanjing

1400 1500 16001400 1500 1600

430 CHAPTER 12 China in the Middle Ages

TheThe

Effects/Causes

Effect

Effect

CauseZheng He traveled to parts of

Asia and Africa.

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The Rise of the MingMing rulers strengthened China’s gov-

ernment and brought back peace and prosperity.

Reading Focus Think about all the different things the

government does for people. Imagine if you were running

the government and had to rebuild the country after a

war. What would you do? Read to learn how the Ming

rulers in China rebuilt their country after the Mongols left.

Kublai Khan died in 1294. A series ofweak rulers followed him, and Mongolpower began to decline. During the 1300s,problems mounted for the Yuan dynasty.Mongol groups in Mongolia to the northbroke away. At the same time, manyChinese resented Mongol controls andwanted their own dynasty.

How Did the Ming Dynasty Begin? Aseries of rebellions finally drove out theMongols. In 1368 a rebel leader named Zhu Yuanzhang (JOO YOO • AHN • JAHNG)became emperor. Zhu reunited the countryand set up his capital at Nanjing (NAHN •JIHNG) in southern China. There, hefounded the Ming, or “Brilliant,” dynasty.

As emperor, Zhu took the name HongWu, or the “Military Emperor.” He broughtback order, but he also proved to be a cruelleader. Hong Wu trusted no one and killedofficials he suspected of treason (TREE •zuhn), or disloyalty to the government.Hong Wu ruled China for 30 years. When hedied in 1398, his son became emperor andtook the name of Yong Le (YUNG LEE).

Two-Point Equidistant projection500 km0

500 mi.0 N

S

WE

Great Wall

20°N

100°E110°E 120°E

Yellow

Sea

Huang He (Y

ello

wR

.)

C

hang Jiang (Yangtze R.)

G O B I

CHINA

MONGOLIA

Guangzhou

Beijing

Nanjing

Quanzhou

Ming Dynasty China 1368–16441368–1644

During the Ming dynasty, theChinese capital moved to Beijing.1. What feature made up the

northern border of the Mingempire?

2. How far away was Guangzhoufrom Beijing?

Ming dynasty

Great Wall

KEY

A bronze Buddhafrom the Ming dynasty

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Yong Le worked hard to show that hewas a powerful emperor. In 1421 he movedthe capital north to Beijing. There, he built alarge area of palaces and government build-ings known as the Imperial City. The verycenter of the Imperial City was known asthe Forbidden City. Only top officials couldenter the Forbidden City because it washome to China’s emperors.

The Forbidden City had beautiful gar-dens and many palaces with thousands ofrooms. The emperor and his court livedthere in luxury for more than 500 years. Thebuildings of the Forbidden City still exist.You can visit them if you travel to China.

How Did the Ming Reform China? Mingemperors made all the decisions, but theystill needed officials to carry out theirorders. They restored the civil serviceexaminations and made the tests even

harder. From time to time, Mingofficials carried out a census(SEHN • suhs), or a count of thenumber of people. This helpedthem collect taxes more accurately.

With the strong governmentof the early Ming emperors pro-viding peace and security,China’s economy began to grow.Hong Wu ordered many of thecanals and farms destroyed bythe Mongols to be rebuilt andordered people to move to thenew farms. He also ordered newforests to be planted and newroads to be paved.

Agriculture thrived as farm-ers worked on the new lands andgrew more crops. Ming rulersrepaired and expanded theGrand Canal so that rice and

other goods could again be shipped fromsouthern to northern China. They importednew types of rice from southeast Asia thatgrew faster. This helped feed the growingnumber of people living in cities. The Mingalso supported the silk industry andencouraged farmers to start growing cottonand weaving cloth. For the first time, cottonbecame the cloth worn by most Chinese.

Chinese Culture Chinese culture alsoadvanced under the Ming. As merchantsand artisans grew wealthier, they wanted tolearn more and be entertained. During theMing period, Chinese writers producedmany novels (NAH •vuhls), or long fictionalstories. The Chinese also enjoyed seeingdramas on stage. These works combinedspoken words and songs with dances, cos-tumes, and symbolic gestures.

Identify What was theForbidden City?

432 CHAPTER 12 China in the Middle Ages

This image, from a Ming dynasty vase, showsChinese farmworkers collecting tea.

SEF/Art Resource, NY

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China Explores the World During the Ming dynasty, China sent a

fleet to explore Asia and East Africa.

Reading Focus You probably have heard of Christopher

Columbus and his trip to America. Imagine if China had

sent ships to America first. Read to learn about Chinese

explorations of Asia and East Africa.

Early Ming emperors were curious aboutthe world outside of China. They alsowanted to increase China’s influence abroad.To reach these goals, Ming emperors built alarge fleet of ships. The new ships usuallytraveled along China’s coast. However, theycould also sail in the open sea.

Who Was Zheng He? From 1405 to 1431,Emperor Yong Le sent the fleet on sevenoverseas voyages. The emperor wanted totrade with other kingdoms, show offChina’s power, and demand that weakerkingdoms pay tribute to China.

The leader of these journeys was aChinese Muslim and court official namedZheng He (JUNG HUH). Zheng He’s voy-ages were quite impressive. His first fleethad 62 large ships, 250 smaller ships, andalmost 28,000 men. The largest ship wasover 440 feet (134 m) long. That made itmore than five times as long as the SantaMaría that Christopher Columbus sailedalmost 90 years later!

1,000 km0Mercator projection

1,000 mi.0N

S

W E

30°E

60°E

120°E90°E

0°

30°N

EQUATORSumatra

Borneo

Java

Sri Lanka(Ceylon)

RedSea

PersianGulf

ArabianSea

Bay ofBengal

SouthChina

Sea

INDIANOCEAN

PACIFICOCEAN

CHINA

INDIA

ARABIA

AFRICA

Mombasa

Malindi

Mogadishu

Aden

JeddahMakkah

Hormuz

Calicut

Chittagong

Bangkok

Melaka

Quanzhou

Nanjing

Zheng He’s Voyages 1405–14331405–1433

CHAPTER 12 China in the Middle Ages 433

Exploration routes of Zheng He's fleetKEY

Zheng He’s voyages took him to farawaylands from which he brought back manyexotic items.1. What cities in Africa did Zheng He visit?2. About how far did Zheng He travel?Zheng He

ChinaStock

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ZHENG HE1371–1433

Chinese NavigatorThe famous Chinese navigator Zheng He was

born in Kunyang in southwest China in 1371. His

birth name was Ma He, and he was from a poor

Chinese Muslim family. Scholars say that his father

and grandfather were honored hajjis—people who

successfully made the pilgrimage to Makkah in

Arabia. Little did Ma He know that his life would

also involve travel. His seven missions across the

oceans earned him heroic honors.

His father died when Ma He was little. As a

child, Ma He was taken prisoner by the Chinese

army. To overcome his sad life, Ma He turned

to education. He learned different languages,

including Arabic, and studied philosophy and

geography. With his language skills and know-

ledge of the outside world, 10-year-old Ma He

became a valuable imperial aide to Chinese

officials.

By age 12, he was an assistant to a young

prince named Zhu Di. Ma He accompanied the prince

on several military missions. The prince, who later

became the Emperor Yong Le, became a friend of

Ma He. The emperor changed Ma He’s name to the

honored surname Zheng. Soon after, Zheng He was assigned

to lead a fleet of Chinese ships across the Indian Ocean,

beginning the career that would make him famous. He’s

voyages to new lands opened the

door for trade among China, India,

and Africa. Many of the Chinese

moved abroad to sell Chinese goods.

Those who learned and spoke more

than one language, like Zheng He,

prospered.

Zheng He

What “Made in China” products do you use on

a daily basis? Do research to find out what

percentage of goods imported to the United

States are from China.

“We have set eyes “We have set eyes on barbarian regions on barbarian regions far away.”far away.”

—Zheng He, as quoted —Zheng He, as quoted in in Chinese PortraitsChinese Portraits

ChinaStock

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CHAPTER 12 China in the Middle Ages 435

Where Did Zheng He Travel? Zheng Hetook his first fleet to southeast Asia. In latervoyages, he reached India, sailed up thePersian Gulf to Arabia, and even landed inEast Africa. In these areas, Zheng He tradedChinese goods, such as silk, paper, andporcelain. He brought back silver, spices,wood, and other goods. From Africa, ZhengHe returned home with giraffes and otheranimals for the emperor’s zoo.

As a result of Zheng He’s voyages,Chinese merchants settled in SoutheastAsia and India. There, they not only tradedgoods but also spread Chinese culture.Chinese merchants at home and abroadgrew rich from the trade of the voyages andadded to China’s wealth.

Despite these benefits, Chinese officialscomplained that the trips cost too much.They also said that trips were bad forChina’s way of life because they brought innew ideas from the outside world andhelped merchants become rich.

Confucius had taught that peopleshould place loyalty to society ahead oftheir own desires. To the officials, China’smerchants were disobeying this teaching byworking to gain money for themselves.

After Zheng He’s death, the Confucianofficials persuaded the emperor to stop thevoyages. The boats were dismantled, andno more ships capable of long distanceocean travel were allowed to be built. As aresult, China’s trade with other countriessharply declined. Within 50 years, the ship-building technology was forgotten.

The Europeans Arrive in China Chinese offi-cials were not able to cut off all of China’scontacts with the outside world. In 1514 afleet from the European country of Portugal(POHR • chih • guhl) arrived off the coast ofChina. It was the first time Europeans hadever sailed to China and the first direct

contact between China and Europe since thejourneys of Marco Polo.

The Portuguese wanted China to tradewith their country. They also wanted toconvince the Chinese to become Christians.At the time, the Ming government was notimpressed by the Portuguese. China was atthe height of its power and did not feelthreatened by outsiders. The Chinesethought the Europeans were barbarians(bahr •BEHR •ee •uhns), or uncivilized people.

At first, the Chinese refused to tradewith the Portuguese, but by 1600, they hadallowed Portugal to set up a trading post atthe port of Macao (muh • KOW) in southernChina. Goods were carried on Europeanships between Macao and Japan. Still, tradebetween China and Europe remained limited.

Despite restrictions, ideas from Europedid reach China. Christian missionariestraveled to China on European ships. Manyof these missionaries were Jesuits, a specialgroup of Roman Catholic priests. They

Italian missionary Matteo Ricci (left) was oneof the most famous Europeans to visit China.He helped in the development of math andscience in China during the late 1500s.

The Art Archive

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Reading SummaryReview the • The Ming dynasty rebuilt

and reformed China after theMongols were driven out. Theirdynasty restored peace and prosperity to China.

• During the Ming dynasty, China’scontacts with the outside worldincreased as Zheng He led fleetsto faraway lands and Europeanships began arriving in China.

1. What was the purpose of theForbidden City and where wasit located?

2. How did the Chinese react tothe arrival of Portuguesetraders in 1514?

Critical Thinking3. Organizing Information

Draw a diagram like the onebelow. Fill in details about theachievements of the Mingdynasty.

4. Cause and Effect Why didMing rulers repair and expandthe Grand Canal?

5. Summarize Why did theEmperor Yong Le send Zheng Heon his voyages? How did ZhengHe’s voyages benefit China?

6. Persuasive Writing Imagineyou are living in China at thetime of Zheng He’s voyages.Write a newspaper editorialeither for or against the voy-ages. Describe why you thinkthe voyages are aiding or hurt-ing the country as a whole.

7. Predict What do you thinkhappened after China tried tolimit trade?

What Did You Learn?

Homework Helper Need help with the material in this section? Visit jat.glencoe.com

436 CHAPTER 12 China in the Middle Ages

were highly educated, and their scientificknowledge impressed the Chinese. To getChina to accept European ideas, the Jesuitsbrought with them clocks, eyeglasses, andscientific instruments. Although they tried,the Jesuits did not convince many Chineseto become Christians.

Why Did the Ming Dynasty Fall? After along era of prosperity and growth, the Mingdynasty began to decline. Ming emperorshad gathered too much power into theirown hands. With the emperor having somuch control, officials had little desire tomake improvements. As time passed, Mingrulers themselves became weak. Greedyofficials who lived in luxury took over thecountry. They placed heavy taxes on thepeasants, who began to revolt.

As law and order disappeared, a peoplecalled the Manchus attacked China’s north-ern border. The Manchus lived to the north-east of the Great Wall in an area knowntoday as Manchuria. The Manchus defeatedChinese armies and captured Beijing. In1644 they set up a new dynasty.

Cause and Effect Whatcaused the Ming dynasty to decline and fall?

Ming Dynasty Achievements

This porcelain bowl is from the Ming dynasty.Where in China did the Portuguese set up atrading post?

Bonhams, London, UK/Bridgeman Art Library

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